Oscillatable and removable raceway



March 7, 1950 s. L. GOOKIN OSCILLATABLE AND REMOVABLE RACEWAY OriginalFiled Dec.

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[nu enlor Sylvester" L Goo/an B is A Patented Mar. 7, 1950 OSCILLATABLEAND REMOVABLE RACEWAY Sylvester L. Gookin, Quincy,

United Shoe Machinery Corporation,

Mass, assignor to Flemington, N. J a corporation of New'Jersey Originalapplication December 22, 19 Serial No. 569,333. Divided and thisapplication June 30,1949, Serial No. 102,295

The purpose of the present invention is to provide improvements inhoppers and raceways for supplying small articles in orderly "sequencefrom a mass of such articles. The improved features hereinafterdescribed are illustrated as embodied in a hopper and a raceway designedto supply eyelets in an eyeleting machine of the type set forth inUnited States Letters Patent No. 2,443,682, granted June 22, 1948 on anapplication filed in the name of Clyde L. Knott. This application is adivision of application Serial No. 569.333, filed December 22, 1944.

In shoe factories, eyelets of many different sizes and styles arerequired for shoes of various styles, and this circumstance involves theremoval of every residual unused eyelet from the raceway and hopper ofan eyeleting machine whenever the latter is to be loaded with eyelets ofa different size, color or style.

The raceway and hopper hereinafter described are designed to expeditethe removal of residual unused eyelets and to insure their total removaldespite a, tendency of some of them to remain concealed or caught by thebrush located in the hopper to stir the eyelets and feed them toward anemission port.

For that purpose the hopper is provided with a large opening in thebottom for discharging residual unused eyelets away from the emissionport, and with a gate mounted on a hinge-pin in the manner of adownwardly openingtrap-door which, when closed, contains the eyelets inthe hopper. A rotary brush carried by the gate is arranged to stir theeyelets and feed some of them toward the emission port when the gate isclosed, but, if rotated when the gate is open, it casts oil? the fewresidual eyelets that mightotherwise remain on the gate or in thetuftsof the brush. For that reason the hinge-pin is arranged toberotated individually and the gate is provided with means fortransmitting rotation frornthe pin to the brush not only when thegategis closed but in all positions thereof without interrupting thedriving relations of the transmission elements.

Removal of unused eyelets from the raceway may be accomplished bydetaching, the latter and inverting it end for end. When the elementsare assembled in their cooperative relation the receiving end of theraceway projectseinto an opening in the hopper and is movable relativelythereto, while the delivery end is supported by a movable memberarranged to move it to and fro sidewise without moving the hopper. Thedelivery end and the movable supporting member are provided withcoupling means by which 2 Claims. (Cl. 218--15.1)

the receiving end of the raceway is maintained in its opening in thehopper.

Referring to the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a sectional elevation of a hopper, a raceway and portions ofan eyeleting machine in assembled relation;

Fig. 2 is an inclined sectional plan indicated by line IIII in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view indicated by line III-III in Fig. 1; and

Fig. 4 is a top plan view of the lower portion of the raceway.

The hopper H) is mounted on and afiixed to a supporting structure whichmay be the frame I i of an eyelet-inserting machine of the type shownand described in the aforesaid Knott patent. The hopper has an inclinedbottom wall l2 and chamber-forming walls I3 extending upwardlytherefrom. A large opening I4 is provided in the bottom wall todischarge unused eyelets when it is desired to clear thehopper, but thisopening is normally closed by a gate 15 mounted on a horizontalhinge-pin [6, the gate having a pair of spaced ears (Fig. 3) throughwhich the pin extends. A torsion spring I'I normally closes the gate andthereby maintains its eyelet-supporting surface l8 in an inclined planeand in contact with the under surface of the wall I2 with enough forceto sustain any load of eyelets within the capacity of the hopper. Ahandle l9 formed on or aflixed to one of the ears of the gate providesfor opening the latter against the closing force of the spring ll. Whenthe handle is swung upwardly the lower margin of the gate swingsdownwardly, and the contents of the hopper will then be dischargedthrough the opening M. The frame H is provided with a b-aflie 20arranged to deflect the discharged eyelets into a box, can or otherreceptacle (not shown). The upper margin of the gate has a cylindricalsurface 2| in concentric relation to the pin l6 and in tangentialrelation to the under surface of the wall 12 to prevent eyelets frombeing caught in that region when the gate is open.

The hinge-pin I6 is journaled in the frame II and may be rotated withoutmoving the gate. A pulley 22 affixed to the pin is arranged to transmitrotation from a belt 23. The gate carries a rotary assemblage comprisinga brush 24, a worm-gear 25 and a shaft 26 connecting them, the brushbeinginside the gate and arranged to lie in the opening l4 when the gateis closed. The gear 25 is outside the gate, and the shaft extendsthrough the gate and is journaled in it. The gear 25 cooperates with aworm 2'! to transmit rotation from the pin IE to the brush, the wormbeing afiixed to the pin.

When the gate is closed the brush stirs the eyelets lying on the surfacel8 and feeds some of them toward the upper end of a raceway 30, but whenthe gate is open the brush will cast ofi any eyelets lodged on orbetween its tufts, since its rotation is not interrupted by opening thegate. The upper end of the raceway projects into the wall l3 of thehopper that has contact with the lower margin of the gate. The openingfor its reception is formed in part in the baffle portion 20 and in partin the lower surface of ablock 3| mortised into the contiguous wall ,J3,of the. hopper and constituting a movable section thereof. The baffleportion 20 provides support for the raceway without constraining itagainst lengthwise movement or sidewise angular movement.

The block 3| and the contiguous wall l3 have mated cylindrical bearingsurfaces 32 that enable maintains-itschannel in register. with thenormalv plane of the eyelet-supportingsurface l8 of the gate- The lowerend of the raceway is. supportedand oscillated sidewise by. an arm 33 topresent eyelets to an eyelet-inserting tool, .(not shown). The

- .arm 33 hasashankor stemportion 34 journaled in the frame 1 l and isoscillated bya power-open ated mechanism including an operating arm thehub 35 of which is .afiixedio the stem .portion 34.

To provide an operating connection between the raceway .and the arm33,.a. steel ball 36 is interposed between them, the arm having ahemispherical socket 3'! and the raceway having a similar socketin whichthe ball is seated. A

semicircular spring clip 38 is provided to-..maintain assembled relationofthese parts.

39 and the other end is provided with a small teat to engage adepression in the raceway. When the clip-is disengaged, the raceway maybe re- One end of the clip is attached to the arm by a hinge-pin 4 movedfrom the ball and then its upper end may be withdrawn from the hopper,but when the ball-and-socket elements are assembled and clipped, theball maintains the assembled rel-ation of the raceway and the hopper.When a loaded raceway is detached, it may be emptied by inverting it endfor end, the eyelets therein will run out through the entering end ofits channel which is straight and uninterrupted,

Having described my invention, what I claim as newand desire to secureby Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In an eyeleting machine, an eyelet-hopper I having an inclinedeyelet-supporting surface ating member arranged to support the lower endof the raceway and reciprocate it sidewise, and coupling means by Whichsaid movable member and the lower end of the racew-ay are connected andby which the upper end of the raceway is maintained in said opening. M a

2. A hopper-and-raceway assemblage for cooperating with an eyeletingmachine having a reciprocatory operating member, the hopper.having aninclined eyelet-supporting surface and chamber-forming walls extendingupwardly therefrom, one of said walls having an opening through whicheyelets lying on said surface may gravitate therefrom, ,an inclined.raceway the upper end of which is located in said opening, means forsupporting said upper end' in register with said inclined surface,'andcoupling means by which the lower end of the raceway .is operativelyconnected to said operating member and by which the upper end of theraceway is maintained in said opening.

SYLVESTER L. GOOKIN.

No references cited.

